US ice sledge hockey team through to Sochi Paralympics final

SOCHI, March 13, /ITAR-TASS/. Reigning Paralympic champions team USA went to the final of the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games after defeating team Canada 3-0 in the ice sledge hockey semifinal match on Thursday night in Russia’s Sochi.

The score was opened in the middle of the first period by US forward Declan Farmer from the assist of Joshua Pauls.

With less than a minute remaining, Farmer put another net-burner to secure his team’s lead 2-0 before the second period.

That was not enough for 16-year-old Farmer and his assist to Pauls in the middle of the second period put the United States 3-0 ahead of Canada.

The third period went scoreless until the final buzzer.

The 7,000-seat Shayba Arena was packed almost to its full capacity as the game kicked off at 8:00 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT), but more spectators kept arriving.

Some sections of the arena were packed with fans dressed in the US team colors and waving the national flags, while other sectors were bright with the colors of the Canadian team.

According to the organizers, over 5,100 spectators attended the match between the teams from the North American continent.

The team of the Russian ice sledge hockey players were also in one of the stands of the arena attentively watching the game.

The United States will now contest the Paralympics gold with the Russian team, which earlier in the day cruised to the final of the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games by creaming Norway 4-0.